"Israeli government may be..."

Posted by Lilly from ? (160.129.27.22) on Thursday, September 26, 2002 at 10:40AM :

Urgent warning: The Israeli government may be contemplating crimes
against humanity.

We, members of Israeli academe, are horrified by US buildup of
aggression towards Iraq and by the Israeli political leadership's
enthusiastic support for it.

We are deeply worried by indications that the "fog of war" could be
exploited by the Israeli government to commit further crimes against
the Palestinian people, up to full-fledged ethnic cleansing.

The Israeli ruling coalition includes parties that promote "transfer"
of the Palestinian population as a solution to what they call "the
demographic problem". Politicians are regularly quoted in the media as
suggesting forcible expulsion, most recently MKs Michael Kleiner and
Benny Elon, as reported on Yediot Ahronot website on September 19,
2002. In a recent interview in Ha'aretz, Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon
described the Palestinians as a "cancerous manifestation" and equated
the military actions in the Occupied Territories with "chemotherapy",
suggesting that more radical "treatment" may be necessary. Prime
Minister Sharon has backed this "assessment of reality". Escalating
racist demagoguery concerning the Palestinian citizens of Israel may
indicate the scope of the crimes that are possibly being contemplated.

We call upon the International Community to pay close attention to
events that unfold within Israel and in the Occupied Territories, to
make it absolutely clear that crimes against humanity will not be
tolerated, and to take concrete measures to prevent such crimes from
taking place.